| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
66.09 miles
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Altitude Gain:
3,014 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.71 mph
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Route:
Middle Fork Fondo
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 163 bpm
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Avg HR: 134 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Rolling
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Bike: Look Blade RS 795 Iconic Ltd Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 68 F N wind @ 3 mph |
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Metric today was in Mills River, NC. Thought it was going to be colder but as the sun got high enough, it was easy to shed a layer before the ten o'clock start. Didn't know much about the ride and it was a minimal check-in. They took my name, I got a free beer ticket and that was it. Mighty Young Joe traveled up from SC to join me on the ride. Though this was going to be a fairly flat touring speed, but it turned out to be a racing club training ride. Appeared to be about fifty riders with forty of them being in race shape. Met up with another rider Joe and I had raced with in NY last year as he has relocated to a fairer climate. Got one of those small world moments. Pace would be fast with three long timed sprint sections with regrouping after the sprints. There were also eight rated climbs all about a half mile long with less that one hundred feet elevation change. Didn't think I would last to long but hung onto the back of the pack without too much trouble. Kept up on the initial climbs thanks a bit to an accordion effect where those of us in the back would roll up closer to the front using the draft as the front riders slowed and stretching out again as the front riders accelerated down the back side. Pace was in the low twenties. The first seven of the eight climbs were in the first twenty-five miles of the course. I suffered a bit on the first couple but settled in nicely for the next three. Joe had disappeared over one of the first two. Ran into trouble on number seven as there was a six percent kicker at the top of it. Most of the riders went out of the saddle, but as soon as I did I ran out of leg and had to sit back down. I started going backwards with a few riders that were behind me going by. Really struggled to hang on to the last spot and was able to over the top. Thought I had saved it but the line was now strung out and a rider five or six places ahead of me lost the wheel and soon a significant gap had opened. The rest of us scrambled to try to cross the gap but soon found there were only two of us left. The other rider with me said he didn't think he had enough to cross, but that he would try. We worked together for half a mile or so and were able to reconnect as the front pack slowed for a turn. Unfortunately, within a mile of my reconnecting the first timed section started. It was flat but a few miles long. Pace immediately went into the high twenties and it was an all out effort to hold the wheel ahead. Felt pretty good for the first two miles been then the legs flamed out and the riders ahead quickly began to fade in the distance. Just sort of soft pedaled as I waited for the legs to hopefully recover when I was passed by two riders that yelled for me to hop on as they went by. Grabbed a wheel but we had to swerve around an old gent shuffling to his mailbox. He either didn't see us or didn't care. Got around him okay but had lost the wheel and went back to soft pedaling. Found most of the group up the road taking a nature break after the sprint section and passed them soft pedaling ahead with a couple of other riders. We regrouped for a couple of miles before the next sprint section. It was again chasing a wheel in the high twenties for three flat miles. Gaps opened in the lines and I found myself in the third group. Didn't feel to bad so accelerated hard pulling away from my group and trying to bridge to the group ahead. Was doing fairly well and got to about three lengths behind that I couldn't cross as the legs again flamed out. I was soon caught be the third group but got on the back as we finished off the sprint. We regrouped just before the rest stop at forty-two miles. I bid the group adieu as I decided to wait for Joe to catch up, so I could ride a the last few miles with him. Waited for several minutes before deciding to backtrack and try to find him. Rode a mile before he showed up. We stopped at the rest stop and chatted with the attendant for a bit before heading out with another rider that asked if he could ride with us. We worked a friendly pace line catching up to a fourth rider. Our speed was pretty good and ended up doing hill sprints with one of the riders. Ended up dropping the recently caught rider on one of the climbs and the three of us rode it out together. Joe and I gave our beer tickets the third local guy and then went out and had some lunch. Ride wasn't what I expected but did get a good training session in. Still need to do some work but have made a big improvement from earlier this year. Next week ride is in Florida.
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